Outdone by the Pro

Betye Saar's intimate installation Red Time has been up at Roberts & Tilton for a while, but a new exhibition that just opened in the gallery's main space makes Saar's look so much better. All assemblage and collage, most of the work is meant to pay homage to Saar, who came into her own with the racially charged assemblage she made in the 1970s. But it tries too hard. In contrast, Saar's all-red, shrinelike room, with Aunt Jemima figurines on top of red boxing gloves and crude drawings hung below an old-fashioned ladder, looks unpretentious and savvy, a slice of history from someone who really knows herself. Roberts & Tilton, 5801 Washington Blvd., Culver City; through Dec. 17. (323) 549-0223; robertsandtilton.com.Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: Sept. 10. Continues through Dec. 17, 2011